dministration put an effectual end to any further effort on the part
of either Packard or Chamberlain. The Administration not only deserted
and abandoned those two men and the party for which they had so bravely
and so gallantly stood, but it allowed the very men whose votes made Mr.
Hayes President to be harassed and persecuted for what they had done in
that direction. After Packard surrendered to the inevitable he was
tendered a position in the foreign service, which he accepted. When
Chamberlain was forced to abandon the hopeless struggle in South
Carolina, he moved to New York and engaged in the practice of law.
Politically he affiliated with the Democratic party until his death.

CHAPTER XIX

QUESTION OF THE VALIDITY OF SENATOR LAMAR'S ELECTION

Mr. Blaine had been elected to the United States Senate from Maine, his
term beginning March 4th, 1877. The term for which Mr. Lamar, of
Mississippi, had been elected, commenced at the same time. It was not
possible to have a Congressional investigation of the Mississippi
election of 1875 unless the same should be ordered by the Senate,--the
Republicans having a small majority in that body. Each House being the
sole judge of the elections and qualifications of its own members, the
Senate could, of course, have Mr. Lamar's credentials referred to the
Committee of Privileges and Elections, with instructions to make an
investigation of the methods used to carry the election. This committee
would ascertain and report whether or not there had been a legal and
valid election in that State, and, pending the investigation and report
by the committee and the disposition of the same by the Senate, the seat
to which Mr. Lamar had been elected would remain vacant. As the result
of a number of conferences between Republican Senators and
representative Mississippi Republicans, this course was decided upon as
the one to be pursued. But, in order to do this, the Senate must have
something upon which to base its contemplated action. It could not be
expected to take official notice of rumors or newspaper reports of what
had taken place. It was therefore decided that a memorial should be
drawn up and signed by a number of reputable and well-known citizens of
the State, making specific allegations with reference to that election,
and concluding with a request that a thorough investigation be made
before the Senator, chosen by the Legislature that had been brought into
existence by th